Name: Pina Colada with Coconut Rum
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 oz. rum; 1 oz. cream of coconut; 3 oz. pineapple juice; ½ cup frozen pineapple chunks; ¼ cup ice; Fresh pineapple chunks and maraschino cherries for garnish

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One of my most favorite cocktails ever is the Pina Colada. It is one of the BEST frozen cocktails you can drink, especially when it is well made with fresh ingredients. We blended ours up with ice, frozen pineapple, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and some Malibu rum! A traditional Pina Colada is made with plain light rum, so feel free to swap that out if you’d like, but we love the fun twist of using Malibu coconut rum!

Pina colada in a tulip cocktail glass, garnished with a pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry.

Why we love this cocktail-

The Pina Colada is a classic drink. It’s easy to please your friends and family by serving them this delicious drink. Whether you enjoy a shaken pina colada, blended, or a pina colada mocktail, it is such a simple and delicious cocktail.
The tropical pineapple and coconut flavors make this the ultimate Summer cocktail. The blended version is just perfect for extra hot Summer days.
You’ll transport yourself into a tropical paradise sipping a frozen Malibu pina colada.

Piña Colada Ingredients:

2 oz. rum- We used coconut rum, but you can use white rum or dark rum.
1 oz. cream of coconut – I recommend coco real for this.
3 ounces pineapple juice- Dole pineapple juice is the best! If you could get fresh pineapple juice that would be amazing, too.
½ cup frozen pineapple chunks
¼ cup of ice
Fresh pineapple chunks or pineapple wedges and maraschino cherries for garnish.

Garnish Ideas

You can take your pina colada to the next level with fun cocktail garnishes. Here are a few ideas.

Maraschino cherries
Pineapple chunks (include fresh pineapple chunks with the skin still on)
Pineapple fronds! (the leaves make for a super pretty garnish)
A chunk of fresh coconut

We used simple ingredients for this recipe, everything is easily available at your local grocery store. There really aren’t a lot of substitutions you can make and still end up with the perfect pina colada, but you do get some wiggle room with the rum. As I mentioned you can use any type of rum you like, white rum, light rum, dark rum, gold rum, or like we used, coconut rum. They all work great, and while the popular brands of rum stand out, you can use whatever you have on hand or whatever flavor you prefer.

Pina Colada Directions:

Step 1: In a blender, combine frozen pineapple, rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and ice.

Step 2: Blend until smooth.

Step 3: If needed, add additional frozen pineapple or ice for a thicker consistency, or thin out with a splash of pineapple juice. Garnish with fresh pineapple chunks and a maraschino cherry.

How to Serve a Pina Colada

You can serve your creamy pina colada in a highball glass, or any tall glass that you have. If you have hurricane glasses, that would give you some major tropical vibes, or you can use a tulip cocktail glass like we did.

If you are looking for blender recommendations, we are obsessed with our Ninja kitchen system. It makes cocktail making, smoothies, and more a breeze. Plus, it comes with a high speed blender and a food processor in one set.

Pina Colada FAQs

Is cream of coconut, coconut cream or coconut milk better for piña coladas?
Cream of coconut is better than coconut milk for making piña coladas. It is ultra rich, and lends a lot to the sweetness and the creaminess of this cocktail. You can use Coco Real or the canned Coco Lopez cream of coconut. Coconut cream, often confused with cream of coconut is typically unsweetened and meant for cooking dishes. Coconut milk could be used in a cocktail, but it is not nearly as sweet, so you’d need to add something to the drink to up the sweetness factor.

Is Malibu rum the same as coconut rum?
Yes! Malibu rum is one of the most popular coconut rums. It is a Caribbean rum with coconut liqueur, and is our favorite in terms of rum with coconut flavor.

If you LOVE Pina Coladas, you might also like our Shaken Pina Colada, or for even more fun, our Pina Colada Jello Shots! For a family-friendly, alcohol free drink, try our Pina Colada Punch.

You might also like these other Malibu rum cocktails-

Malibu Bay Breeze Cocktail is made with Malibu, pineapple, and cranberry juices!

You might also like our Frozen Strawberry Margarita for another delicious blended drink.

This drink features regular rum, but is another delicious frozen drink- our Blackberry Daiquiri.

Yield: 1